Curated OER
Reading the Play
Do figures of speech enhance a play or story? In small groups, learners locate and describe figures of speech they find while reading a reader's theater play. After making predictions, they describe how the figures of speech make the...
Curated OER
A Primary Source Picture Book
Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: How Do Dinosaurs Go To School? (Yolen)
Dinosaurs don't go to school...but what if they did? Use Jane Yolen's book How Do Dinosaurs Go To School to explore vocabulary in context. Find this on YouTube if you don't have the text on hand. These in-text words give some...
Curated OER
The Outsiders: Question Answer Relationships Strategy
Kids learn best when asking questions about what they have read. Encourage active reading with a comprehension activity based on S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, in which kids read passages from the beginning of the book and identify...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (Aardema)
The African plains come alive as scholars learn vocabulary in context through Verna Aardema's story Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (tip: this strategy can be applied to any book). Precede reading by...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Franklin Goes to School (Bourgeois)
Join Franklin the turtle at school as youngsters learn new vocabulary in the context of Paulette Bourgeois' story (or apply this strategy to any book). Scholars are acquainted with new words before reading and raise hands when...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: The K-W-H-L Strategy
Make note of what readers know, what to know, and have learned during a unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As class members read the book, they jot down their ideas on a KWHL chart, and consider what they have...
Curated OER
Take It To the Bank
Examine how the economics of a school store relate to real world economics. Elementary students explore various websites, complete a Venn diagram, create a schedule of wages for the students, read the book "A Chair For My Mother" and...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: From Tadpole to Frog (Pfeffer)
Take an amphibious journey with budding readers as you explore vocabulary in Wendy Pfeffer's informative book From Tadpole to Frog. This text is the backdrop of a vocabulary exercise based on six words: fertilize,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: I Hate To Be Sick (Bermiss)
No one likes being sick; use Aamir Bermiss' book I Hate To Be Sick as the context for a vocabulary study of illness-related words. Acquaint pupils with this unhealthy vocabulary (dizzy, faint, fever,...
Curated OER
How Weather Affects Our Lives
English learners practice basic weather terms from listening to two books. They keep a daily weather record for two weeks to record the type of weather, as well as the high and low temperatures for each day. Next, they complete a simple...
EngageNY
Asking Probing Questions and Choosing a Research Topic
Begin the writing journey of an evidence-based essay detailing a rule to live by with various activities to familiarize learners with the topic and jump-start brainstorming. First, pupils take part in an in-depth review and discussion of...
Curated OER
Bud, Not Buddy: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Here’s a reading strategy that can be used with any text. Class members examine portions of a novel, and make predictions about the theme or subject matter of the book. Although designed for Christopher Paul Curtis’s Newbery Medal...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Family and Friends: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 4)
Family and Friends is the theme of a unit consisting of English language development lessons. Reinforce language proficiency, particularly in family vocabulary, basic needs, feelings, short vowel sounds, blending, reading high frequency...
English Worksheets Land
Blaze a Trail
Compare and contrast different ways that sources present information with a reading worksheet. After readers view two short passages about blazing a trail, they note the information they found in each selection.
EngageNY
Qualities of a Strong Literary Argument Essay
One activity, two essays, and one central theme: qualities of an argument essay. Here, scholars first describe the qualities of an argument essay regarding Bud's rules to live by from the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis....
CK-12 Foundation
The Glyfada Method
Here's a recipe for writing that kicks instruction up a notch, BAM! The online reading about the Glyfada Method helps teachers and pupils learn more about the method and how to implement it in their own writing. Perfect for the entire...
Prestwick House
Divergent
Veronica Roth's popular young adult novel shows a vivid dystopian system in an action-packed, thrilling storyline. Revisit Divergent with a crossword puzzle that features characters, plot, and important quotes from the book.
EngageNY
Writing: Drafting Body Paragraphs and Revising for Language
Begin the drafting phase of the writing process with a lesson plan focused on logically writing three body paragraphs. Then, revise the writing to make it more formal after a teacher-directed mini-lesson plan. Each paragraph highlights...
Curated OER
The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper
Students investigate the process of making a newspaper using children's literature to create context for the lesson. The readers are asked to predict the events of the story as it is read to them. Then the teacher uses guided questions...
Curated OER
How to Measure Time Worksheet
In this elapsed time learning exercise, students read facts about time such as there are 60 seconds in 1 minute, and read tips for computing elapsed time both when going from am to pm, and within the morning or afternoon. They practice...
Curated OER
How to Write an Essay: Secondary ed.
Whether introducing the structure of expository essays or reviewing the format with your high schoolers, take the time to check out this resource. Examples of seven common forms of introductory paragraphs and six types of conclusions, as...
Curated OER
Literary Response and Analysis
Young scholars analyze the archetype of 'the fall' in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In this literary analysis lesson, students work in tiered learning groups to analyze the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Young scholars use the book of...
Curated OER
Read This Book
Learners practice summarizing a story that they have read. They write a persuasive essay encouraging others to read the story they have finished. They are to create a movie trailer or advertisement to promote the book.